The Smartphone is Dead – Long Live the Smartphone!

What does the future hold for our smartphones, and can wearable technology ever completely usurp their seemingly endless utility as a business tool? Image: stevendamron/Flickr

In the highly cynical yet hugely excitable world of business-enabled IT we’ve seen a new kid on the block in the last year. What new kid? Google Glass. If the flow of enthusiasm that greeted the idea of so-called “wearable technology” started out as a trickle, there’s no doubt that by now it’s turned into a formidable flood. The announcement turned so many heads that it wasn’t long before some even began to question whether it, and other pieces of wearable hardware, were on the verge of replacing the smartphone. So what does the future hold for our smartphones, and can wearable technology ever completely usurp their seemingly endless utility as a business tool?

The simple answer is “no” – or, at the very least, “not yet.” Whether Google Glass has the ability to add discernible value to business will be judged based on the functionality and effectiveness of the applications it runs. Without smartphones, or similar technology, the impact of applications running on wearable devices will be largely negligible to business.

Before you mark me down as a Google Glass naysayer, and a doom-monger of all wearable devices, allow me to make one thing absolutely clear: The potential benefits of wearable technology to businesses and consumers are obvious. It could allow surgeons to access information they need while operating on patients, perhaps helping to considerably lower mortality rates in the process. More conventionally, it could allow forklift truck drivers to access real-time updates on stock in a warehouse, creating a more integrated and efficient approach to managing the entire supply chain process.

As a result, a greater burden of responsibility will be placed on application developers. Allow me to give you an example. Let’s say that, a year or so from now, a man is driving a car while wearing a Google Glass device. Suddenly, a notification crops up in his peripheral vision showing his vehicle is low on fuel, and highlighting how far away the nearest gas station is. You might think that this case demonstrates the functionality of Google Glass to consumers, and in a sense, you’d be right.

However, if you delve deeper, you’ll find that in reality that application will almost certainly be running on either a smartphone or a tablet device that is linked to the car. In this instant, all of the heavy lifting will be done by the smartphone, not the wearable device. It’s true that the Google Glass still act as a valuable conduit for this information to be displayed, but the application developer holds the real value in this situation. By allowing the Google Glass API to connect to both the smartphone and the car, the role of the developer becomes increasingly critical in allowing the wearable device to be able to access the information it needs from a smartphone at the back-end.

This may sound as though it’s splitting hairs, but it’s nonetheless true that wearable devices, for now at least, will not have the power to solely support the needs of the business user. For this reason, the effectiveness of wearable technology for businesses will be limited to providing an ease-of-use conduit that enhances the capabilities of smartphones. Think about it. With limited screen real estate and processing power, there’s a finite amount that Google Glass can do by itself.

The device will be able to take pictures, dictate emails and record video, but to business, the value provided may well reside with third party independent software vendors (ISVs). The ability to design and adapt smartphone applications that are capable of greater processing power, and serve them up to an end-user should not be underestimated.

Business users will surely demand access to greater volumes of data on wearable devices, such as databases, designs and diagrams, and other data-intensive documents. Put simply, Google Glass (and its imminently arriving cousins) will not replace smartphones for the business user. It will, however, enhance the user experience.

At the same time, Google Glass will generate a significant business opportunity for ISVs who are experts in enabling smartphones to use the APIs for these devices. This, in turn, could create an API economy of sorts, with ISVs playing a key role in success of businesses using the devices. It’s no exaggeration to say that ISVs could very well drive the usage of both smartphones and wearable technology as a symbiotic partnership for businesses.

Clearly, the age of smartphones is not yet dead, at least not for businesses. Some may see the advent of wearable technology like Google Glass as the death knell for these devices. However, perhaps the real truth is that, as the years roll on, they will become less of a ‘must have’ for consumers, and evolve into a more advanced back-end for business users. We could even see the next generation of smartphones being built with the specific purpose of allowing greater usability through APIs to newer, even more portable devices for businesses. There’s no doubt that we’re at the beginning of a new frontier in wearable technology that will change the way we interact with our smartphones and mobile devices. The smartphone is dead – long live the smartphone!